Mine 2025

The mining industry continues to expand its horizons as it provides the vital materials that support fundamental human needs. For millennia, mining has been the literal bedrock of the global economy. And as industries continue to evolve in the 21st century, mining’s connection to every endeavour of human activity becomes even more apparent. Fundamental changes are afoot in the global economy, spurred by megatrends such as urbanisation and the transitions in energy and technology. A fragmented world and geopolitical tensions are continually reshaping value chains and risk in unpredictable ways. These forces are transforming vertical industries and ecosystems with linear value chains into domains centred on fundamental human needs: how we move, how we make and build things, how we feed and care for ourselves, and how we fuel and power society. Demand for the products mined from the earth is rising, thanks to all these changes. And the same transformational forces are placing an immense amount of value in motion.

Except for gold miners, 2024 was a challenging year for the mining industry: revenues and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for the top 40 global mining companies (excluding gold-focused firms) were down 3% and 10%, respectively. Record gold prices meant that gold revenues increased by 15%, while gold EBITDA rose 32% as a result of operating leverage. Rising costs resulted in a decrease in EBITDA margins to 22% from 24% in 2023. The increase in gold capital expenditures and distributions to shareholders also masks the decreases experienced by non-gold companies.